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Blue Jays Bullpen: Throwing at heads not part of the game

Richard Griffin touches on head-hunting, the Jays' catching situation and how the farmhands are doing.

L.A.'s Yasiel Puig, below, is seen to by Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero after being grazed by a pitch as home plate umpire Clint Fagan signals during the sixth inning of their game, Tuesday, June 11, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Mark J. Terrill / The Associated Press)

Both Yasiel Puig, the Dodgers hot-shot Cuban rookie outfielder, and Zack Greinke, the highly-paid former Cy guy, were the target of headhunting by Diamondbacks starter Ian Kennedy. He was suspended 10 games. There is no place in the game for head shots.

“Ten games, I think they’re trying to set an example,” Kennedy said of his suspension, before Arizona’s game in San Diego, after penalties were announced by MLB on Friday night.

Gee, ya think? Of course they’re trying to set an example and a standard. That 10-game suspension for head-hunting from MLB has now become the floor that baseball can use as a measurement in any future, reckless ball-to-brain incidents.

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Kennedy has history. He led the NL in hit batters in 2012 with 14 and leads again with eight in 2013. In his seven seasons, the righthander has hit 43 batters.

Is he scared to pitch inside? No. Is hitting batters necessarily a bad thing? No. Is targeting the head worthy of suspension? Most definitely yes.

Pitching inside is one thing. It’s forever been a part of the game of baseball. Hit batters, even intentionally-drilled hit batters can serve a role in controlling an opponent’s aggression at the plate and affecting behaviour on the field. It’s a teaching tool. Don’t dive. Don’t cheat out over the plate.

But hit your target between the uniform numbers, please. Intentionally throwing at an opponent’s skull has no place in the game, especially in this enlightened age of concussion awareness.

The sequence on Tuesday night was that Puig, who had recently been promoted by the Dodgers and was making a huge impact, was pitched inside by Kennedy, who came up-and-in and drilled the rookie in the shoulder and head. Greinke soon retaliated, drilling the catcher, Miguel Montero in the back and staring him down. The benches cleared but order was restored before mayhem occurred.

When Greinke came to the plate, as pitchers must do in the NL, Kennedy threw at his head, hitting him in the shoulder and glancing off his helmet. That’s when the brawl erupted. The list of coaches from the teams is an impressive reflection of baseball in the ’70s and ’80s: Tough guys, tough era.

Dodgers coaches include Don Mattingly, Mark McGwire, Tim Wallach, Davey Lopes, Rick Honeycutt and Trey Hillman. For the D’backs, you have Kirk Gibson, Don Baylor, Matt Williams, Alan Trammell, Steve Sax and Charles Nagy. Wow. These guys are from an era in which head-hunting was more commonplace (still not acceptable) and bench-clearing was an art form, a career must.

There were eight suspensions handed down as the result of the D’backs-Dodgers brawl. Will it prevent further fights or beanball wars between the two teams in the future? As long as the stiff, unpaid 10-game suspension for Kenneedy has an impact, let them clear the benches every game, if they want.

Baseball had suggested that the delay in issuing any Kennedy ruling was because they were reviewing the video in New York and would not possibly have a decision on penalties, fines and suspensions until Friday afternoon. So much to examine, so little time. Don’t believe a word of that.

The fact of the matter is that baseball did not want to take away any of the spotlight from their big Wednesday announcement, that the 2014 regular season would be opening for the first time ever in Sydney, Australia, March 22-24, between — you guessed it — the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. Cue Alanis Morrisette. Isn’t it ironic (and faintly amusing)?

Good for baseball in trying to be tough on Kennedy, but 15 games, without pay, would have been more of a deterrent for future head-hunters. Baseball does not need more injuries to its star players. Hitting a batter in the head is most often not an accident.

BLUE JAYS CORNER

Fasano says catching’s in good shape: Early Monday afternoon, inside the Blue Jays clubhouse at U.S. Cellular Field, there was an empty locker with a hand-written sign, Fasano. With manager John Gibbons having flown to San Antonio that morning for the high-school graduation of his son, Troy, there was room for one more coach in the Jays’ dugout. With roving catching instructor Sal Fasano a resident of nearby Joliet, Ill., GM Alex Anthopoulos took advantage. Fasano became the value-added coach.

At training camp, Fasano spent much time with Blue Jay catcher J.P. Arencibia in lengthy, one-on-one sessions. They worked on both the physical and mental aspects of the game behind the plate. Then came the WBC, with Arencibia playing for Team USA, and the relationship withered. Since then, the former major-league catcher’s duties have centred around touring the minors, making sure that all of the Jays’ future catchers are pointed in the same direction.

“Everything that I do, the first thing is the setup of the body,” Fasano explained. “I don’t care how you catch, how you block, how you throw, if your setup is messed up, then usually one of those attributes is going to be messed up, so it’s kind of like an identification process with themselves. They’ve got to learn what their body can do and go from there.”

On Monday afternoon, Fasano took his lessons to Arencibia, renewing an acquaintanceship that could be important to the Jays’ immediate future, committed as they seem to be to their offensively talented, sometimes defensively challenged 27-year-old field general. Then, on Tuesday, some four hours before the game, Arencibia and Fasano emerged from the Jays dugout, along with backup Josh Thole, headed to the bullpen for some fine tuning of mechanics, both physical and mental.

Is it any coincidence that since that session with the Jays’ receivers that the Jays have won five straight games and Arencibia has been behind the plate for four of those? (Thole caught R.A. Dickey’s winning effort on Saturday.) The Jays allowed just nine runs in those five wins, while Arencibia has looked like a different catcher. He’s offering an earlier target with his glove wide open. He’s also offering a cleaner target, staying low and quiet with his body, not stabbing and not stealing strikes from his pitchers.

There has been a feeling that the Jays’ organization stripped itself of catching prospects in the past 12 months, trading Carlos Perez to the Astros last summer and Travis D’Arnaud and John Buck to the Mets in the Dickey deal this winter. Fasano has seen the current system and begs to differ.

“Obviously our top two prospects, A.J. Jimenez and Santiago Nessy have been dealing with some physical issues,” Fasano said. “A.J.’s coming back and A.J. behind the plate is as good as it gets for us, what we have in the organization. Nessy is a guy can be a frontline catcher as well.”

Jimenez is a 23-year-old Puerto Rican at Double-A New Hampshire, slowed by injury, while the 20-year-old Nessy, from Caracas, Venezuela, began the 2013 season at Single-A Lansing and played 13 games before going down with injury. Fasano went on to talk about what he had seen elsewhere.

“Starting in Triple-A with (Mike) Nickeas,” Fasano said of the 30-year-old Vancouver native. “If you had a need in the big leagues right now and you need a defensive guy, he’s the guy. He can catch, throw, he can do just about everything behind the plate.

“Sean Ochinko is quietly becoming a pretty good prospect. Sean is more of an offensive catcher, but he’s finally bought into the position. I think he’s really got a chance to catch in the major leagues. In the future, I don’t know if this year’s the year but in the future he does. We have Jack Murphy who’s in Double-A who I think is more of a game-caller, probably. I think that’s his greatest attribute. But we have a bunch of guys who can catch in the organization, so it’s been fun.”

It’s no coincidence that Thole was called up from Buffalo, after a Fasano visit, to replace the one-dimensional Henry Blanco. Fasano had several visits with Thole, and was pleased with his work.

“I made a couple different trips to Buffalo and met them in Indianapolis,” Fasano said. “We spent a lot of time together, so I’ve been really pleased with the progression that he’s made behind the plate. He’s a converted first baseman and is still learning. That’s the thing. Here’s the type of kid (he is). I made one adjustment in Buffalo when he had the day off. He liked it so much that he caught six bullpens that day just to feel it.”

Fasano managed in the Jays’ system for three seasons, including the last two at New Hampshire.

In 2013, the Jays asked him to become a roving instructor, a position that had not been filled in recent years and was clearly something that was needed. Fasano still wants to manage in the majors.

“I always struggle with that because I really enjoyed managing,” Fasano admitted. “But to me this is a great avenue to have where I can float and make sure all the catchers are on point with their progression of what they’re supposed to be doing at each level. Either way, I’m happy doing it. I just like teaching. Whatever they need me doing, I’m happy doing.”

Five games and one rainout following Fasano’s Windy City visit, the Jays have yet to lose.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

For the second time this season, as he was being lifted before he felt it was time, Jays’ righthander R.A. Dickey was unable to control his displeasure at manager John Gibbons. The Cy Young winner is an emotional man, but this time on Saturday he knew that he was wrong. The knuckleballer had worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run. He was handing the game off to a ’pen that had been and continues to be airtight. Neil Wagner recorded the final out of the sixth, followed by two more in the seventh. Brett Cecil and Dustin McGowan finished up the 6-1 win.

The still underrated bullpen is taking over this Blue Jays team, allowing it to keep its head above water while the rotation is finally sorting itself out. There are eight relievers in the bullpen now, even with Esmil Rogers for the moment joining the ranks of the starters. They are all getting work.

Bolstered by the additions of lefty Juan Perez and Wagner and now the incredible re-emergence of McGowan, the Jays ’pen throws hard and throws strikes, logging an incredible total of 59 1/3 innings in the past 13 games. Over that stretch, relievers have posted a 1.02 ERA, with 32 hits, 20 walks and 48 strikeouts. The Jays have won 10 of those 14 decisions, with the bullpen going 4-2.

The Jays have now risen to four games below .500 for the first time since being 9-13 on April 24. The Jays maxed out at 11 games under the break-even mark, twice, going 22-15 since May 5 and 19-12 since May 10. After losing the series opener in Boston to Jon Lester, the Jays came back and won the final two of that series at Fenway Park and have been steadily on the rise ever since.

Since May 26, the Jays have lost just one series, that being the two of three in San Diego. The pitching staff has allowed 31 runs in the past 11 games and 43 runs in the last 14 contests.

The Jays head into this six-game homestand against the Rockies (3) and the O’s (3) just 5 -1/2 games out of the second wild-card spot shared by the Rangers and Yankees. They are three behind the Rays. The Jays have not been at .500 at any time this year, losing to the Indians the first two games.

THE ESSAY

Reviving-Baseball-in-Inner-Cities (RBI) program means hope: There seems to be a breath of fresh air, a whiff of hope for an increase in the dwindling African-American presence in baseball. It occurred when the first day of the June draft produced a total of 14 players of African-American descent among the 73 selections made. That is 19.2 per cent.

It had already been a special year celebrating Jackie Robinson, with the release of the movie $2 earlier in the spring. But alarmingly, since 1995, the percentage of black players in the majors has diminished from 19 per cent to the current 8.5 per cent. The 2005 Astros went to the World Series with not one African-American on its roster. Baseball has been at a loss for a definitive explanation.

Part of it may have to do with the shorter turnaround time from the amateur ranks to making the big time in other sports like basketball and football. Part of it may have to do with the easier access to basketball for inner city kids and the relatively inexpensive equipment compared to baseball.

That’s the gap that a currently thriving program called Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) has tried to fill. The program was started in 1989 in Los Angeles by a former major-league player named John Young, who was a scout for the Orioles at the time and noticed that, other than Gary Sheffield, there seemed few African-American youngsters chosen or even considered in the 1986 draft.

Young presented his case to then-commissioner Peter Ueberroth, looking for help for funding for baseball programs created specifically for inner-city kids. Ueberroth, who had done a tremendous job as head of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, called on L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley, who matched MLB’s contribution, shaping a 12-team, 180-player inner-city baseball program, headed by Young.

In that light, it must have been a special moment for Darryl Strawberry on draft day this year. As the Mets representative at the MLB Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, Straw was the first to greet young first baseman Dominic Smith, selected 11th overall by the Mets, fresh out of the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton, CA. Not only was Strawberry, baseball’s first overall pick by the Mets in 1980, also a product of Compton, but along with Reds outfielder Eric Davis, Strawberry was one of the first MLB players to help Young out with the RBI program when he was still a player, back in 1989.

The firmly established RBI program now operates in over 200 communites around America as baseball tries to regain a lost place in the African-American community. RBI provides more than 210,000 boys and girls the opportunity to play baseball/softball in more than 300 programs worldwide.

On Day 1 of the 2013 draft, 14 RBI alumni were drafted, including Smith — the Mets’ first pick — and the Phillies’ first-round pick, shortstop J.P. Crawford (16th overall). Both are products of the Venice Boys & Girls Club RBI program and the youth academy in Compton.

Earlier in this week’s edition of The Bullpen, Jays catching coach Sal Fasano discussed the organization’s catching in terms of depth and future prospects. Following is a list of catchers at every level and their percentage at throwing out baserunners in 2013 -- (SB/SBA-CS per cent)

Triple-A Buffalo (35-33)

Josh Thole 32/41/22

Mike Nickeas 26/34/24

Sean Ochinko 2/3/33

Double-A New Hampshire (33-36)

Ochinko28/38/26

Jack Murphy 21/32/34

A.J. Jimenez 0/11/00

Jon Talley 0/0

A-Dunedin (34-29)

Derrick Chung 16/27/41

Pierce Rankin 17/23/46

Aaron Munoz 3/5/40

Chris Schaeffer 11/13/15

Jimenez 7/9/22

A-LANSING (32-37)

Munoz 28/38/26

Seth Connor 32/40/20

Santiago Nessy 14/16/13

VANCOUVER (1-2)

Daniel Klein 0/1/100

Matt Hitt 2/2/0

Mike Reeves 0/0

DSL JAYS (7-5)

Javier Hernandez 7/9/22

Michael de la Cruz 5/10/50

Luis Dominguez 3/5/40

Juan Kelly 5/11/55

THE LIST

This past weekend, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was named to the American League coaching staff for the All-Star Game to be played at Citi Field in New York on July 16. Gibbons was selected by the Mets in the first round of the 1980 June draft and played most of his injury-plagued career in their system, including being the bullpen catcher for the 1986 World Series win over the Red Sox. Folowing is a list of Blue Jays managers and coaches that have been to the All-Star Game since 1977.

1979 Roy Hartsfield

1985 Bobby Cox

1991, ’93, ’94: Cito Gaston*

2004 Carlos Tosca

2006 John Gibbons

2011 John Farrell

2013 John Gibbons

*In 1993-94, Cito Gaston was the AL manager as the World Series manager for his league. In addition, in ’93 he had his own coaches Galen Cisco, Gene Tenace and John Sullivan. In ’94 the coaches were Cisco, Tenace and Bob Bailor.

MLB NOTES

Reyes and Morrow head to Florida: The amazing recovery of shortstop Jose Reyes continues this week. Reyes suffered a badly sprained ankle on April 12 and was carted off the field at Kaufmann Stadium after an awkward slide at second base. Doctors originally projected a return in late July, but he rejoined the team on a trip to New York, May 17 and started to work on drills, mainly agility, baserunning, hitting and fielding. Reyes will likely begin his rehab option with games at A-Dunedin as early as Monday.

Meanwhile, righthander Brandon Morrow has proclaimed himself pain free wth his strained right forearm and will make 2-3 rehab starts in the minors before rejoining the Jays’ rotation. The 28-year-old is 2-3, with a 5.63 ERA, averaging just 5 1/3 innings in 10 starts.

Travis Seabrooke signs with O’s: Fifth round draft pick and Peterborough (ON) native, 17-year-old Travis Seabrooke, has signed a contract with the Orioles, reported to be slot value, $291,800. Seabrooke was a member of the Ontario Terriers and Canada’s junior national team. He watched as his draft stock rose significantly in a May trip to the Dominican with the JNT where he was one of the best pitchers scouts saw. The O’s increased their Canadian scouting presence in 2012, adding Canadian scout Tyler Moe, from Oakville, ON. The O’s drafted OF Julian Service (Whitby) in the 2012 draft, but failed to reach agreement.

Cubs suspend Stewart for Twitter rant: A Twitter rant on Monday by the Cubs infielder Ian Stewart quickly led to an unpaid 10-game suspension for violating the loyalty clause in the standard player’s contract. The 28-year-old was injured at spring training; after a rehab-option was activated, he was kept down in the minors. He had been answering Twitter questions from fans on Monday when he suggested that he might never get back to the Cubs, that they might as well release him and that manager Dale Sveum did not really like him. Bad move. It might have meant more if he was hitting better than his current .168 with fve homers and 20 RBIs. Twitter is great when things are going well.

Olivo walks out on Marlins: The Marlins are another team that didn’t fall for the “Play me or trade me,” plea from one of its players. Instead, a frustrated catcher Miguel Olivo, a Blue Jay for about a week several years ago, walked out on his team. The Marlins won’t release him, instead placing him on the restricted list.

“I don’t understand why they don’t release me,” Olivo told the Miami Herald. “I told them I wanted to be released because I have 30 days of not playing. I need to play.”

Olivo, 34, has 18 plate appearances in the past month as former Blue Jays catcher Jeff Mathis and Rob Brantly have been splitting time behind the plate. Olivo has been relegated to third-string and warming up pitchers. The Marlins carry three catchers, well, because they’ve got nothing else..

“I don’t understand,” Olivo told miamiherald.com. “If I’m not doing nothing, I don’t understand why they keep me doing nothing. Let me go. Right now they’re going to make me look bad, and I’m not. I hope people understand. I just want to play baseball. They have three catchers.”

The Marlins are on a pace that would see them win 50 and lose 112. .

THIS DATE IN BASEBALL HISTORY:

June 17:1960 – Despite taking time off to fight for his country in both WW II and Korea, Ted Williams of the Red Sox became the fourth player in hostory to reach 500 career homers, slamming one off RH Wynn Hawkins at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium ...

June 18: 1986 – RH Don Sutton virtually ensures his place at Cooperstown when he beats the Angels for his 300th career win, joining 18 other major leaguers at that level ... 1977 – The famous near brawl in the dugout takes place between Yankees manager Billy Martin and OF Reggie Jackson after Reggie slow-played a ball up the alley in a 10-4 loss to the Red Sox ... 1976 – In anticipation of free agency at the end of the season, A’s owner Charlie Finley attempts a cash sale of his top players in protest – Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox and Vida Blue to the Yankees for a total of $3.5 million. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn cites “the best interests of baseball” in vetoing both deals ...

June 19: 1990 - Gary Carter of the Giants catches career game No. 1,862 to break the all-time record of Al Lopez ... 1989 – RHP Dwight Gooden of the Mets beats the Expos to win his 100th career game. At 100-37, Gooden boasts the second best start in MLB history for any pitcher with 100 wins, next to Whitey Ford’s Yankee start of 100-36 ...

June 21: 1986 – OF Bo Jackson, the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner at Auburn, stuns the NFL by choosing the K.C. Royals over the honour of being selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ... 1964 – In a game that I remember watching live on TV, Jim Bunning of the Phillies tosses a perfect game vs. the Mets winning 6-0 in the first game of a doubleheader. Bunning is the first to throw a no-hitter in both leagues. He goes on to become a U.S. Senator for the state of Kentucky ... June 22: 1990 – The Braves fire manager Russ Nixon and sagely replace him with general manager Bobby Cox, who had left the Blue Jays as manager after the ‘85 season to take the GM position in Atlanta. Cox leads the Braves to every division title in the ‘90s, except the strike year of ‘94 when the Expos swept the Braves aside but were crushed by the strike and the cancelled World Series ...

June 23: 1973 – Phillies LH Ken Brett beats the Expos 7-2 and homers for a MLB record fourth straight start. The older brother of George Brett of the Royals ended his career with 10 homers ... 1963 Mets’ OF Jimmy Piersall slams his 100th career homer off LH Dallas Green if the Phillies and runs around the bases backwards.

MLB POWER RANKINGS (as of June 16)

TEAM Last Week Start of Spring

1-St. Louis Cardinals 1-13

2-Cincinnati Reds 6-9

3-Boston Red Sox 3-16

4-Atlanta Braves 2-2

5-Detroit Tigers 11-7

6-Baltimore Orioles 12-11

7-Pittsburgh Pirates 9-28

8-Oakland A’s 5-8

9-New York Yankees 7-14

10-Texas Rangers 4-6

11-Arizona Diamondbacks 10-17

12-San Francisco Giants 13-1

13-Colorado Rockies 14-25

14-Tampa Bay Rays 8-10

15-San Diego Padres 18-23

16-Washington Nationals 20-4

17-Cleveland Indians 15-20

18-Kansas City 19-18

19-Minnesota Twins 16-26

20-Philadelphia Phillies 17-15

21-Toronto Blue Jays 24-3

22-Seattle Mariners 21-21

23-Los Angeles Angels 22-12

24-Chicago White Sox 23-19

25-Los Angeles Dodgers 26-5

26-Chicago Cubs 27-24

27-Milwaukee Brewers 29-22

28-New York Mets 25-27

29-Houston Astros 28-30

30-Miami Marlins 30-29

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

The city of Chicago has always been among three favourite baseball destinations in terms of major-league road trips, first with the Expos from 1973-94 and then covering the Jays for The Star from 1995 through this past week, as the Jays visited the Windy City for a three-game set at U.S. Cellular. My other cities of choice are San Francisco and New York. Chicago remains the greatest.

Chicago’s appeal is it is a huge city with small-town attitude and friendliness. Neighbourhoods, live music, food, the nightlife, shopping, Wrigley Field, smart sports fans, the concrete beach at the end of Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile. They are all reasons I look forward to coming back.

After landing at Midway Airport Sunday night, I went looking for a bite to eat near my hotel at State and Hubbard. Back to the room to work late into the night on a Bullpen. Monday, of course was the fog game at the Cell with R.A. Dickey hammered and the Jays losing the first game of the trip. There was a huge media demand for former ChiSox star Mark Buehrle returning for the first time in two years. He said he wished he had been pitching so he could have avoided us. He’s shy, it seems.

It was an eye-opener to see and hear how much of a sports legend Buehrle is in Chicago. The Sox media asked him about a statue perhaps being in his future. The club then feted hkm with a scoreboard tribute in the middle of the first inning and the fans accorded him a standing ovation.

The Jays surprisingly bounced back to win on Tuesday behind castoff RHP Chien-Ming Wang who went 7-1/3 innings, pitching well enough to keep his team in the game until Jose Bautista could tie it with two outs in the ninth and the Jays could win it on a wild pitch and an error on a tag at the plate. Late that night it was out on the town with Arash Madani of Sportsnet for a couple of late night beverages and lively talk about life in the slow lane.

An example of the broad, universal appeal of Chicago came at our second watering hole, Mother’s on Hubbard, where we quite coincidentally ran into a couple of radio/TV guys from Calgary and Winnipeg that were down for the baseball and had worked with Arash in a former life.

On Wednesday, the game was shockingly called off at 1:19 p.m. because of severe weather forecasts. Clearly both teams had been aware of what the rain strategy would be. The Jays had moved their buses up to get to the ballpark an hour early and had made sure the players knew before they left the park, Tuesday. Besides, I know air travel and team charters. Unless you let the airline, the crew and the airport know well in advance, you can’t magically change a midnight Dallas flight 3:00 p.m.

In any case, the full Jays entourage was ready, willing and more than able to get out while the getting was good, pretty much blowing off all media responsibilities in favour of their hasty retreat. Some of us, the unwashed masses without charter plans, were compelled to remain in town. As for the severe weather? Other than a couple of showers and a few pesky bolts of lightning, one or two that may have hit Chicago landmarks, gaining our attention, the Jays game might possibly have been played.

The good news is we were in Chicago. I watched the Black Hawks and Bruins final in a joint called the Blue Frog Local 22, on Hubbard—the first five periods anyway. The last period I watched in my room as the Hawks took the series lead. I had an early morning flight home.

At Local 22, I was flanked on my right by a lunatic, screaming 50-year-old Hawks fan with a keen knowledge of what the score was by reading off the screen, but clearly no other awareness of the subtleties of the game. Meanwhile, on my left side was a nice young couple from Fort Erie, ON, in town for the Jays series, and other stuff, but equally rained out of the baseball finale. The conversation was all Jays, all Arencibia, Travis Snider, Joey Bats.

As I sat watching the Hawks win that hockey game in that friendly Chicago bar, my Oakville A’s, the team for which I’m pitching coach, the minor-midgets travelled to Brampton and beat a rugged Royals squad. We had nine players on hand and received what may have been Mike Vucina’s sharpest performance of the year – without me. How could that be? The Jays, meanwhile arrived in hot and humid Arlington and swept the Rangers away. They return home riding a five-game win streak.

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